, football followers around the country were saying the Seahawks were all but unbeatable. Now, after their first loss of the season, the conversation has changed. Click through the gallery for a collection of what people are saying about the Seahawks after their 34-28 loss to the Colts on Sunday in Indianapolis.

What people are saying after the Seahawks' first loss A... Photo-5291726.71664 - seattlepi.com

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Grantland's Bill Barnwell

On Grantland, football writer Bill Barnwell gave Indy's Andrew Luck and the Colts defense a lot of credit for stopping Russell Wilson and the Seahawks, but called out the officials for affecting the game. "Independently of how well they played, the Colts did have a number of notable calls go their way in this game," Barnwell wrote. "The Colts weren't lucky to win, by any means -- both teams played well, and somebody had to get these calls one way or another -- but it was a truly dismal officiating effort."

Terry Blount, who covers the Seahawks for ESPN.com, whittled Seattle's problems Sunday down to three: converting just two of 12 third-downs, poor clock management and, most of all, an uncharacteristically leaky defense. "The defense overall did a good job against Luck," Blount wrote, "until it needed to make a stop in the fourth quarter."

Yet Blount also highlighted some positives for the Seahawks in Sunday's loss. Most notable was the inexperienced offensive line, which Blount said improved over the week before. "Seattle was without four starters up front," he wrote. "But Seattle had two 100-yard rushers -- running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Russell Wilson each had 102 yards on the ground."

, however, thought there was still one big weakness on Seattle's offensive line: Paul McQuistan, who slid over from left guard when Pro-Bowl left tackle Russell Okung went on the injured reserve. "He doesn't have the talent to cope with speed rushes off the edge," Elsayed wrote of McQuistan. "Against the Colts he allowed a sack, a hit and six hurries as the team is left to hope Okung can return later in the season."
Elsayed also wrote that Sunday was the third time this season Russell Wilson has graded poorly on his passing game. "It's not a sophomore slump yet, but let's not fool ourselves that Wilson is at the level he was last year," Elsayed wrote. "But enough with the negatives. Because while his passing hasn't quite been what many would have hoped, his legs are getting the job done and the more teams learn to respect that, the more it should help his receivers."

FieldGulls blogger Danny Kelly wrote that it wasn't the questionable officiating that "pissed" him off, it was how many opportunities the Seahawks missed. "To tell you the truth, this was one of the most gut-wrenching, depressing Seahawk losses for me in a long time," Kelly wrote. "I can't remember feeling so crappy since maybe the Miami game last year."

On Emerald City Swagger, a Seahawks blog affiliated with Sports Illustrated, writer Paul Novak gave Seattle a humbling report card to bring home to Papa Schneider, giving the team an overall C-plus grade. Marks for the offense, defense and coaching weren't that impressive, with special teams scoring best at B-minus. "Bad officiating cost the Seahawks numerous points," Novak wrote, however. "A safety that should have really counted for seven points instead of two wouldn't have been enough to give the Hawks the points needed to win but it was a blown call nonetheless."

Danny O'Neil, morning radio host on 710 ESPN Seattle, broke the game down into several keys, including the good, the bad and the ugly. The bad, according to O'Neil? "It was the first time since 1988 the Seahawks had a blocked field-goal attempt returned for a touchdown against then," he wrote. "The Seahawks allowed an opposing receiver to finish with more than 100 yards receiving for the second consecutive game."

Despite their loss, the Seahawks still have the confidence of (most of) the nation. Monday on ESPN's SportsNation, more than 35,000 voters in an unscientific poll said the Hawks were still the best one-loss team. In the online comments, one ESPN.com reader wrote: "Seahawks lost by just 6 IN INDY with most of their O-Line missing. Put that on a neutral field with healthy teams, and Seattle has the advantage."

In his weekly "The Morning After" feature, Hawk Blogger (AKA Brian Nemhauser) put into words what a lot of Seahawks fans have been feeling for the start of this season. "Five weeks into the season, the Seahawks are stuck in a perpetual warm-up," Nemhauser wrote. "Their talent is so overwhelming, and coaching so strong, that they have been able to exit that stretch 4-1, but this team has yet to put together a complete game."

And, as always, there was (and is) lots of discussion on the seattlepi.com Seahawks forum. In one thread aptly titled "Week 5 observations," the discussion settled upon Seattle's defensive performance Sunday -- among other issues, of course. "Agreed on all but they went into the 4th qtr with a lead and the defense gave it up again," user Anthony wrote, "and do not forget Lynch dropping a pass, another drop by (Golden) Tate, (Richard) Sherman getting owned, (Walter) Thurmond getting owned. They made half time adjustments and we did not. Some questionable play calling at times."
You can join the conversation over on our seattlepi.com Seahawks forum, and there's more discussion on our other Seattle sports forums.